While You Were Out
by Tulusu
Summary: Your basic non dramatic what would Harry do while Ron's out, and Harry more or less sounding like a real boy. Have fun reading, and PLEASE R&R.


a/n .. Do I have to? Is this really nessicary? Okay, heres the deal .. If I owned Harry Potter, I would be rolling in dough in a complete nuttersville, and be .. well, insane, and write dirty romance novels and parodies too. So, that's exactly why we give JK her rights to HP. Yep, I don't own any of this .. Oh Bum! Excuse me for Harry's language while you were out.  
  
Hermione was running through the common room, hairbrush in hand. Again and again she whacked at her hair, with an angry look in her eyes. Her mouth was quiet, her face, but it was easy to read her, much more then the reading assignments she gave me and Ron. Hermione was brushing so fast and hard against her thick hair, that I was worried now, " Stop, your going to tear up your hair! Don't you know how to use a brush?" I reached my hand out to take it, but she threw it at the ground instead.  
  
" What do I care?! If I should - " She stopped, and her eyes had a glassy quality to them, " It's gross. I hate it."  
  
Pms? Something more. I felt empathy for her, and picked the comb up off the floor, " Sit down." She threw herself down in an arm chair by the fire with a huff, and with much protesting. She reminded me of the time I tried to get Ron to pet Crookshanks. Awful memory, but she settled down in the end, that angry expression crossing her mouth into a thin thin line.  
  
" There's nothing wrong with your hair."  
  
" Your my friend- you have to tell me that." She grumbled, " It's terrible, and you know it."  
  
" Who told you that?"  
  
I watched her lip tremble a bit, and she looked away, that thin line turning into a grimace, " People. People tell me that!"  
  
I worked the bristles softly throughout her hair, untangling it, softer, it reminded me somewhat of combing my neighbors dog, Larry, but I doubt she would ever want to hear that. It wasn't a bad thing, just morbidly funny. I chuckled, despite myself, and she looked even worse.  
  
I knew she was going to cry, but she didn't, " People tell me Im fat and Im ugly and skinny, and that Im stupid, and plain, and simple, and read too much because I don't have a life, and I even have more friends on the internet then in real life! Muggles even!"  
  
I shook my head," Being a muggle isn't bad. It's just not .." I made a wiggling motion with my fingers," All glamor," Her lip started to ring about, like laughter, but I knew that she wouldn't just yet. And so I laid the comb down, and hugged her. Now she cried,  
  
" Hermione! Your not stupid. Your smart. Really smart- and none of that makes sense. Your fat and skinny?"  
  
" Leave me alone! - Nd .. You can .. be!"  
  
" How?"  
  
" Well .. if your bones are skinny and .. if you have .. "  
  
" How?" I dropped my hands down, and raised an eyebrow.  
  
" If your stomach sticks out .. and it's big. Look, your a nice boy, you just won't get it." She crossed her arms.  
  
" Did Draco get to you?"  
  
" No." She spat.  
  
I suppose not, or at least this time. Plenty of Ron's friend thought she was difficult, and a prat, but she was complicated? Was that even the word? I hugged her again, " Well you don't have a large stomach, and you have quite nice eyes."  
  
She began to shake somewhat, like she was in some kind of insane outbreak. Was she laughing or sobbing? Her voice still wasn't clear, and her eyes hadn't stopped being wet this whole time, " That's what people say when they have nothing better! And they look like cat piss!" Her face scrunched up, and she made her hands into fists.  
  
" Your being silly."  
  
" Silly? Silly? No one has called me that since I was a first former!"  
  
" You are." I refrained from laughing or smiling. She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes like she could rip them out of their sockets.  
  
" Im sorry. Im being bitter. Im getting sick of them. I hate them, and I hate myself for it."  
  
" Who?"  
  
She sighed, " Ron, Huffle Puff, and the entire Grinfindor table besides you."  
  
" Who called you ugly?"  
  
Her face turned angry and sad at the same time, and I knew the answer.  
  
" Ron called you ugly? Is that what's all this about? Hermione, he loves you, you know that! He's just upset's all. He doesn't mean it, your his best pally, alright?"  
  
" Stop! I hate how you always choose sides with him, and make me forgive him!"  
  
" Choose sides? Make you?"  
  
" He never says he's sorry! He never does! And you always choose him! It's not fair!"  
  
She was gone, and soon enough I heard loud depressing music raging from the girl's dormitories. Im not sure what's eating at her. Maybe I'll talk to Ron? He is a bit of a drama queen sometimes. .. And an attention whore .. but he's my friend.  
  
At breakfast, I could feel their glares and heat towards each other. I felt like yelling at them to love each other and be happy go lucky friends again, but my tongue is tied at the moment by a load of cereal. It's that muggle kind that has about five thousand loads of sugar in it. I've always liked it, even when I was a little kid. It's kind of comforting to know that the simple pleasures of mugglism aren't taken away from the glorious life that is Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
Suddenly Ron is looking down at the table top, and Hermione is ranting on about some test, and extra credit that we should both take on. I nod my head every once and a while, along with Ron, and looking up- this might not be the best idea, because she's not as thick as Parvati. Right now she is sighing, and glaring at the same time. I've been nodding when she hasn't been talking. I apologize, and hand her the daily prophet.  
  
I remembered my conversation with Ron in the library,' You don't tell her things like that. Your nice to people like that. My mouth is so .. stupid. It says stupid things, and she knows it. I know it. She'll get over it.'  
  
Slamming her books down on the table, she power walked- stomped back to the Grifindor common rooms. Or at least, had I asked her, she would have called it power walking. Hermione doesn't like to even admit when she's mad at me, but she sure can make a scene some days.  
  
She listens to you because no matter how much she's babbling on, your respectful, and such. She likes that. You take her seriously, and .. did you .. call her pretty? Yeah? That explains a lot.  
  
I gave a sour look at Ron. He shrugged, " Best luck, chum."  
  
Hermione Granger .. the complete stranger .. the complete wonder. Ron is saying that she likes me? Rates me? Hermione? Rate? Me? Me- Harry Potter? Me she rates? It doesn't make sense. No one likes me! Ginny likes me! Those two facts fit together! Ron's little sister likes me. Erlack. .. But .. Hermione?  
  
My head swam frantically like a dog caught in a swap with alligators coming at him at full speed. Girls? I didn't stand a chance!  
  
Taking my broom, Larry- Yeah, I named it alright- I sat him on the ground. Extending my hand outwards, he came to me instantly.  
  
Stop! I hate how you always choose sides with him!  
  
He's never says sorry! He never is! And you always choose his side! It's not fair!  
  
Taking quick steps, I was on Larry, going up and up and up .. I could see the clouds now, grey, red, blue, yellow- basically clouds. I think Im suppose to remember some muggle science concept right now, but my mind is just too busy thinking .. thinking .. ERLACK! My brain hurts. You ever been thinking about things you wish you weren't thinking about, and then your head starts pounding? You ever get that feeling? I put Larry to a halt, and just stared into outer space. Not literally, of course.  
  
Suddenly some random owl was flying towards me, and I looked down to see someone calling my name. Hermione. Can't I have time to think? Not that Hermione looks like an alligator, or that I look like a dog, but I think I need to run away frantically right now. I pretend not to see her, and fly up higher. Higher .. eh .. until Im pretty sure I'll suffocate if I go any higher. Looking around, it's not a terrible sight. Taking my wand, I sent the owl back to the ground. He made a terrible searching sound, god bless him, but in the end was cooing and being patted by Hermione. That's a good quality about Hermione. Animals just fall in love with her.  
  
I vaguely remember that time in second year when she turned into a cat. That was pretty funny, but sad. Terribly wrong, but funny. I remember realizing for the first time that she was a girl, and used the girls bathroom because she was a GIRL. She was a girl, and also happened to care about how others saw her, like .. um, people tend to do. I remember her telling us not to look at her, and crying, and me wondering if normal cats could cry. Could they? I still didn't know, but I haven't seen Crookshanks around listening to loud depressing country music and crying his little eyes out.  
  
I remember how in fourth year, at the Yule Ball, how pretty she looked, though she's usually .. herself? She looked .. wow, and I kept staring at her. Not Cho, but her. Why? I don't know .. I remember how I noticed that she was a girl again. Yep .. she was definitely a girl. A tiny girl, but a girl. Short, small, skinny as hell- tiny. That's the word.  
  
I guess the question is if I like Hermione .. I love her, I really do, but in a floating sort of far off way. She's like a sister, and a friend, but something .. else. I'd run out in front of a foot baller Voldemort on a broom for her. I'd gladly kill Draco for her. Shoot, I'd kill Ron for her! I don't think about kissing her. I remember her kissing my cheek once, and it was .. nice. It was really nice. Maybe .. ERLACK! Shaking my head, Im going down down down on Larry, until, if I wanted to, I could touch the ground with my feet.  
  
She's dressed out of uniform, for the weekend. She's wearing a blue tank top and a hot pink mini skirt, with big hooker boots, or at least that's what Parvati calls them .. Mini skirts? Hookerboots? All I know is that's what Parvati says. They don't look to bad, which is a little scary thought, considering I now know why they call them mini-skirts. I look up at her face now. ' Good Harry, look up at her face!' I wanted to punch myself right in the stomach. I felt like saying a couple of hail mary mother of gods.  
  
Aunt Petunia is absolutely horrid when it comes to girls. She kept calling Hermione that cute little girl that has a huge crush on me all of my first summer back. Why? I hugged her? She made it sound bad though. I really loathed her for it. Pugsley would make up vicious little stories about me and my 'Girl friend' until I threatened to make him explode. That boy makes me sick ..  
  
" What?" I lean over on the edge of my broom, which is a bad idea, as I nearly fall on the ground.  
  
" .. I don't know." She sits down on the ground, looking up at me with mixed emotions," I just don't want to study right now."  
  
" Okay .. that's a first."  
  
" It's a saturday."  
  
I grin," Yes, I noticed."  
  
Her face turns a dangerous shade of crimson, " My mum sent it .. I don't get to go shopping with her anymore." I have my suspicions. Ie. Why doesn't she wear her uniform then? Oh .. I guess that wouldn't matter. They don't let the GIRLS wear slacks.  
  
" I understand. All my clothes are awful hand-me-downs. I understand." I nod for a while, and she does too, until I offer her my hand, " You want to ride?"  
  
She laughs," I can't ride in this ridiculous outfit!"  
  
" Do you have any jeans?"  
  
" Um .. no?"  
  
I hopped off the broom, and lead her into the common room. I told her to wait as I entered the boys dormitory, and searched for what I was looking for. I returned with a pear of denims with a belt, and she just kept laughing and shaking her head.  
  
" These are big, but I use to be pretty skinny too. These are pretty old. Maybe they'll fit."  
  
She took ahold of them, and looked at me with a searching glance," Well, thanks. I'll be back."  
  
Ron came while she was out and made a big deal about why she was wearing my pants when she came back. She gave him many ugly glares, and finally he stopped teasing, and straightened up. He took his "Butterfly" and offered to accompany us. I said we'd be alright, and we headed back to the fields so that we could fly for a bit before lunch.  
  
Funny, having her sit in back of me, holding on to my waist .. It reminds me of all those Italian guys on scooters that have those really attractive girls behind them. .. Except this is my best friend .. And I look like Im riding a stick .. Still, I start to laugh. She asks me what's so funny, clearly afraid I find her funny, and I tell her, minus the her not being an attractive lady on the back. She laughs to.  
  
" Harry! Your so funny when no ones plotting your demise."  
  
I nod my head," People ten to."  
  
Is she leaning on me? Is she ..? Gods .. She is. She's leaning her chest on my back, and I can feel all her girly things. .. I think she's traumatized me .. Lavender tried to - DID slap my arse once. It felt kind of awkward and really just gross. Taking a hand, I pat her shoulder. She fidgets uncomfortably for a moment, and then relaxes. I can feel her breathing, in, out. .. Ya know, like normal breathing, except her heart is going, beaty beat beat dum dun dum dummity dump dum, instead of thud .. thud .. thud. What in Merlin's hiney is wrong with her?  
  
I tire the broom, and we can see all of Hogwarts down below. She looks happily down, if not a little breath taken, and holds on tighter to my waist. I turn my head to her and grin real dorkily, " Are you plotting my demise through suffocation?"  
  
She lets go, and looks nervously down," Ah, Ermine, .. Just hold on .. Tight. Hold on for you LIFE!" , That got her attention. She's holding on to me now, same as before, except I can feel her face against my neck. .. She really is kind of short, but I think tiny is the better word. - Ack? She just .. what? Kissed my neck?  
  
Heat rises to my cheeks, and I probably look like one of those downtown london mimes, too. Not that the order lets me have time for those kinds of things, or that uncle Vernon ever let me go downtown with him, I've just been described as that before. Why? I don't get it, but when ever I start blushing or flushing, people say I look like a clown. Good thing my hair can hide my face. .. Yay?  
  
Hermione just kissed me. Hermione just kissed me. .. Hermione kissed ME. My neck is tingling, too, like it is fully aware of this action as well. I have a funny feeling .. en me pantallones. - Excuse me. I apologize, by merlin I do, but I think- .. do I like this? Turning around, it's Hermione. Hermione! Ya know, Harry, your best friend since .. like .. seven years ago? What about Ron? What about him? Ya know .. that .. guy .. Why is she looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with my face? Is it screwed up and read a sign that is painted in big bold red letters, ' Confused Bastards Be Here. Also questioning sexuality.'  
  
.. What about Ron? Who cares? What, am I gay or something? I suck in a breathe, " Hermione .."  
  
" Yeah?" Yeah? What a lovely reply. Stuff in the books, I tell ya. Oh, I know, Hermione is one of those girls that keeps a blank diary (Knowledge curtsey of trying to find out what happened to her while she was Petrified), no romance novels (Courtesy of Lavender and Parvati), and absolutely NO make-up. (Courtesy of Fred .. No one asked.) I think she gives me a funny feeling in my pants. .. Odd, very odd.  
  
" ... " For a while, I look down at Hogwarts. Ron will be in Hogmeade for the rest of the day , so it's just me and her. .. Yikes? Wow? " Can I kiss you?"  
  
" Yes." She's quick to answer, but her eyes are about to explode form too much eye socket ill treatment of bulging of the eyes. It was sweet though. Smiling, I give her THE chaste kiss. Ya know, I think my pants are blushing too. Grinning, again, dorkily, and in la la land, I say, " Mer-fro 's beard! You look like you've just kissed a dementour!"  
  
" I have." She glowered, and ever the pragmatist, she finished, " But this was nicer."  
  
I laughed," I hope so. .. Hermione?"  
  
" Yes?" She seemed really odd lately? Perky? Im sure that's not the word, but Im not sure just what is.  
  
We landed, and I was planing on running into Hog-warts and hiding in the boys bathroom after I said this," You give me a funny feeling in my pants."  
  
She started giggling, snorting, and laughing all in one. It looked really funky, but it was cute in some weird and morbid way, " I am in your pants."  
  
I started to join her in morbidly cute la la land, " I kinda forgot. .. Hermione?"  
  
" What?"  
  
" Your too sexy for MY trousers."  
  
" Im too sexy for Ron's trousers too." She grinned and stuck her chin up in the air, " And Draco. And Fred. And Im too sexy for every body's trousers . .. Maybe you shouldn't wear trousers then? Try shorts?"  
  
I escorted her by arm to the great hall," Well then, maybe I will." 


End file.
